Where choice begins, Paradise ends, innocence ends, for what is Paradise but the absence of any need to choose this action?- Arthur Miller
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I like that I can leave my goats and llama outside and ignore them until I want to take them their morning grain. (They've got sufficient water, food, and shelter without what I bring them for breakfast.) I couldn't do that with a child. And I know I'm just too selfish and impatient to have my own child. Sure, I can borrow and enjoy one once in a while... And yes, their development is fascinating.
As far as giving the puking cat a pass and not the puking friend... You're right. I choose not to have that type of friend, but I choose to have that type of cat. I guess it has to be looked at more as a commitment/guilt issue. No one would adopt Maximus-cat if I were honest about all of his pissing issues. We are stuck with him until the end of time. On the other hand, I don't *have* to keep most of those puking-type people as friends. They won't be killed and cremated if I ignore them or tell them to take a hike.
I don't think it's a lack of culpability thing. Though you're right in that I purposefully don't have friends who have tendencies to make my life worse (imo) by puking on my carpet, but I don't see pets vs friends as an either/or situation where one is more desired than the other. They're for different times. Friends are for when I am feeling more extroverted, when I want good conversation. As someone with growing introvert tendencies, my cats are for when I want downtime, a snuggling purring lump of happiness on my lap while I read. They're comforting, they're low-key, and they love me unconditionally, so that's pretty great, too, when I'm stressed out-- and when I'm stressed out, even low-key and positive hangouts with other people can tap my reserves
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I think you've mostly nailed it on the wiring thing.
The drunk friend was clearly a bad analogy, since it seems to be reading as 'that kind of person' instead of 'most people are occasionally avoidably awful' and also, yeah, obviously not an either/or choice on friends or animals. I myself like pets, just not with the same dedication some other people do. It's a thing I think is interesting.
This was prompted by a couple different 'pets are so much better than people' comments in different contexts, and I didn't really address that at all.
It is symbiotic mammalian bonding. Warm fuzzy things to make you warm and fuzzy in the winter. Cats keep pest away, dogs do useful stuff, horses make you go fast, bunnies are delicious in a pinch.
Pets predate livestock and agriculture. Baboons will even steal puppies to raise them as part of their families. It is just something built into us at this point that not everyone has but enough do to make it a thing.
I get the attraction in a general sense. I'm curious about what makes some people hardcore self-identifying animal lovers, and other people able to say bunnies are adorable and delicious in a pinch.
As said above, wiring makes you an animal lover. Being raised on a farm and being hungry makes you know that pets can also be food. Being me makes you know people would probably taste like delicious bacon in a pinch.
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As far as giving the puking cat a pass and not the puking friend... You're right. I choose not to have that type of friend, but I choose to have that type of cat. I guess it has to be looked at more as a commitment/guilt issue. No one would adopt Maximus-cat if I were honest about all of his pissing issues. We are stuck with him until the end of time. On the other hand, I don't *have* to keep most of those puking-type people as friends. They won't be killed and cremated if I ignore them or tell them to take a hike.
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The drunk friend was clearly a bad analogy, since it seems to be reading as 'that kind of person' instead of 'most people are occasionally avoidably awful' and also, yeah, obviously not an either/or choice on friends or animals. I myself like pets, just not with the same dedication some other people do. It's a thing I think is interesting.
This was prompted by a couple different 'pets are so much better than people' comments in different contexts, and I didn't really address that at all.
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Pets predate livestock and agriculture. Baboons will even steal puppies to raise them as part of their families. It is just something built into us at this point that not everyone has but enough do to make it a thing.
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